More than 1,000 telephone lines, including Remote Access Terminal (RAX) networks used by top officers and politicians for internal communication, went dead after two dozen rolls of MTNL cables were stolen from the high security area near Army Headquarters on Wednesday night.

Given the sensitivity of communications handled by Army Headquarters, initial fears were of a massive security breach, and instructions were issued to urgently secure the information stored at the headquarters. On Thursday morning, the RAX network too was found to be non-functional.

Officials of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), which has an exchange inside Sena Bhawan, were summoned late on Wednesday night. Several tonnes of high-value cables were subsequently found missing from an underground chamber used as a network junction.

MTNL area manager (Janpath), B M Tandon, told The Indian Express, â€œWe have filed a complaint with the police. Our officials are in the process of assessing the cost of the missing cables. These are high value cables, and it will take several days to restore services in the affected areas.â€

Initial investigations suggest the theft occurred between 8 pm and 9 pm on Wednesday, when armed security was deployed at the gates of Sena Bhawan, police sources said. An inside job could not be ruled out, they said.

â€œIt is not possible to carry away such a massive quantity of heavy copper wire on foot. The thieves seem to have used a vehicle, probably a mini truck. It is suspected that they came in the guise of MTNL staff,â€ an officer close to the investigation said.

Police officers said the cables have a large and ready market in several cities in Delhiâ€™s vicinity like Meerut and Gurgaon. â€œThe cables are primarily purchased by construction companies or contractors. We have caught some gangs of cable thieves with links to contractors in the past,â€ an officer said.

Additional CP (New Delhi) K C Dwivedi said, â€œA case has been registered at Tughlaq Road police station and investigations are under way.â€

I hope in next 20-25 years some bureaucrat with brain and demanding military man with priority not set on just enjoying life in his clean and immaculate office, eye on promotion and hands on calculator for increment and DA will do what needs to be done without shoddy excuses.

In fact, if possible, all sorts of cables and pipes should be laid underground. The civilian too, deserves protection from common miscreants and robbers.
OT:
Talking about battle ready, we are probably the only country with nuclear weapons, a large part of whose population is clueless about how to react in case of a nuclear strike. Even the educated city dweller doesn't know how to protect himself and his family from a nuclear detonation. Hell, do they even have an idea what happens during and after a nuclear burst? Sadly, no. Lucky are those who are vapourised instantly, hell awaits those who survive.
Amazingly, no government has ever made an effort to educate the people about reaction to such detonations. But enough about that. Maybe in some other thread.